Online Investigation Basics Instructor Bios

Vere Software Online Investigation Basics webinar instructors are established experts in their fields. Practitioners with years of experience investigating all kinds of high-tech crimes, they have widely diverse backgrounds: academia, private and corporate investigation, and law enforcement.

Cynthia Navarro has worked in investigations for over 28 years. Currently the principal of Finnegan’s Way, an investigative consultation firm located in California, she manages both civil and criminal investigations. She consults worldwide, specializing in anti-piracy, business and intelligence backgrounds.

Dr. Kessler's primary areas of professional interest include computer and network forensics, mobile device forensics, computer and network security, TCP/IP and the Internet, and communications protocols and standards. He has presented at conferences including HTCIA, Mobile Forensics World, and TechnoSecurity, and is the author/co-author of over 70 papers and articles. He is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law. He is also a CISSP, CCE, and DFCP.

Frank Zellers is a Corona (California) Police Department Senior Detective with over 15 years of experience. An EnCase Certified Examiner and AccessData Certified Examiner in computer forensics, he currently investigates high technology crimes. He is also the owner of Inland Direct, a professional training and consulting company. He is an expert witness in the area of computer forensics and high technology crimes.

Det. Zellers has instructed on identity theft for the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards & Training (POST) via the Robert Presley Institute of Criminal Investigation (ICI) at San Jose State University. He has additionally developed and currently instructs the MySpace Specialized Tools for Investigators Class.

Kipp Loving, a detective with the Tracy (California) Police Department, has over 26 years in law enforcement. Having previously worked for the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office, Turlock Police Department, and Merced County Sheriff's Department, he has been assigned for the last 9 years to the Sacramento Valley Hi-Tech Crimes Task Force. There, he has specialized in computer forensics, satellite signal theft, cellular phone forensics, and identity theft. He has worked and assisted in a number of high-profile cases involving technology.

Det. Loving authored an ID theft booklet, which is in its fourth printing with over 45,000 copies to date. The booklet is currently being used by a number of California law enforcement agencies and financial institutions, and is endorsed by California Senator Dave Cogdill and Assemblyman Berryhill.

Richard R. Whidden, Jr. is Executive Director and Senior Counsel for the National Law Center for Children and Families. He has addressed local, state, national and international audiences concerning child exploitation crimes and sex offender management and is a frequent source for media interviews. He also has successfully created and produced a high-quality training program that has trained more than 1,000 law enforcement professionals across the nation on these issues.

Whidden is a former Interim County Attorney for Flagler County, Florida. He also served as Assistant Attorney General of Florida and Assistant General Counsel to the Florida Department of State. He received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Alabama School of Law and his bachelor's degree from Florida State University. He is a member of the District of Columbia and Florida Bars.

During his career with the Ottawa Police, he utilized mIRC as one of his online investigative tools. While using this tool he located numerous people in Canada, the United States and around the world that were successfully prosecuted.

Michael Harrington is a former Detective Sergeant with the Michigan State Police Computer Crimes Unit. A sworn law enforcement officer with the Michigan State Police since 1995, he joined the Computer Crimes Unit at its inception in November of 2000.

He is a frequent instructor in the field of computer forensics, having taught across the United States, Europe and Asia. He served as the International High Tech Crime Investigator’s Association Treasurer in 2004 and Secretary in 2005. In addition, he is the past president of the Michigan Chapter of the HTCIA. In addition to this blog, Michael also writes articles on mobile forensics for industry magazines such as DFI News.

Mr. Harrington is the Director of Training and Services for Teel Technologies and holds Certificates for Certified Forensic Computer Examiner (CFCE) and EnCase Certified Examiner (EnCE). He blogs at Mobile Device Forensics.

Jonathan D. Abolins has providing computer, Internet, and information security services in the public sector for over 25 years. He began his interest in information security when he was researching what happened with the Hebrew University computer virus incident in 1988. From then on, he has continued studying and teaching about security issues in the networked world.

His interest & basic skill in several languages have helped him access technical information in languages such as Arabic and Russian and convey the information to English speaking audiences. Mr. Abolins has contributed to several information security books and authored various articles, including a couple for DFINews. He has been a speaker at several events, including GMU Cyber-Investigations Conference, NJ Infragard meetings, and DojoCon 2010.

Mr. Laramie is a 2004 graduate of the FBI National Academy and presents nationally on the topic of online child exploitation, technology safety, cyberbullying and protecting the welfare of workers exposed to child exploitation materials. He blogs at http://ikeepsafe.blogspot.com.

Marisa Randazzo, Ph.D. is a Managing Partner of SIGMA Threat Management Associates and an international expert on threat assessment, targeted violence, and violence prevention. Before joining the private sector, Dr. Randazzo served for ten years with the U.S. Secret Service, most recently as the agency's Chief Research Psychologist. Among her various responsibilities, she co-directed the Safe School Initiative, the landmark federal study of school shootings that was conducted jointly by the U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Department of Education.

Dr. Randazzo received her Ph.D. and Master's degree from Princeton University in Social Psychology, and a B.A. in Psychology and Religion from Williams College. In 2005, Dr. Randazzo was awarded the Williams College Bicentennial Medal for her work in preventing violence.